


I Will Wait

by amongbangtan



Series: Bonded to the Kings [1]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alice Joins the Volturi, Bella Swan with a Backbone, Caius Jane and Jasper are Besties, Edward Cullen Bashing, F/M, Human Bella Swan, Non-Human Bella Swan, Past Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, RIP Victoria, Sassy Aro, Title from a Mumford & Sons Song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amongbangtan/pseuds/amongbangtan
Summary: "Our mate is something that we will cherish forever, not merely for the seconds that we drain them, or in your case, the months you have suffered through to not drain her.”When Aro and Bella meet in Volterra in New Moon, something shifts.
Relationships: Aro & Bella Swan, Aro/Bella Swan
Series: Bonded to the Kings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146779
Comments: 12
Kudos: 95





	1. P R O L O G U E

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first (published) Twilight fanfiction, I hope you enjoy your stay :)
> 
> We pick up in New Moon after Alice and Bella team up to go and save Edward from his attempted death at the hands of the Volturi.
> 
> This chapter and some of the next one is actually just New Moon rewritten in a certain way as necessary set up, so if it seems familiar, that's why!

Unlike Alice, I couldn’t envision the future - as helpful as it would be, especially in moments like these. I couldn’t _expect_ anything. However, I also wasn’t completely daft. 

Even if I did find myself incredibly fortunate and managed to somehow save Edward from his self-inflicted demise, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to stay with him if the possibility arose. I was no different now than I had been in Forks, save for marginally longer hair and more self-reliance and resilience, which meant I was also no more _special_ than I’d been when Edward and his family packed up and left. And thus, there would be no new reason for Edward to want me now - other than his possible debt to me, should I save him from himself. 

The plane began its descent into New York City, and Alice remained in her trance, even as it touched down with a jarring impact. Our connecting flight boarded minutes after our first plane had landed on the runway, but that was far superior to waiting in the terminal, especially with the imminent shadow of dread that hung like a rain cloud just above our heads. 

Once the second plane was in the air, Alice slid back into her vision-induced stupor. I waited patiently until it became dark in the cabin, but opening the window shade to stare into inky nothingness was only marginally better than the piece of cream coloured plastic that covered it. The monotony of it was almost comical, an ironic parallel to how I had lived for the first few months after the Cullens left. At one point, three months into my Edward-centric major depressive episode, I learnt how to control my thought processes.

Instead of dwelling on the terrifying idea that there was a possibility that neither myself, Edward, or possibly even Alice would survive this, I decided to concentrate on lesser problems. What was I going to say to Jacob if I got back to Forks alive? He’d promised that he would wait for me, but after this, I was even less sure about ever taking him up on his promise. Sure, I loved Jake, but not enough; not enough to leave behind the idea of the vampiric life I had my heart set on since learning the Cullens’ secret, regardless of if I was with Edward or not. 

Maybe, just maybe, I didn’t _want_ to survive this, regardless of if Edward and Alice made it out alive or not. I had nothing to offer the Cullens now that I wasn’t with Edward. Sure, Alice had sought me out to go and save my former boyfriend, but if I succeeded, and everyone lived, I supposed they might be indebted to me - though I doubted that alone would be enough leverage for any of them to turn me, especially considering they wouldn’t do it _while I was with_ Edward. 

Alice shook my shoulder and my eyelids fluttered open - I hadn’t realised I’d fallen asleep.

“Bella,” she hissed, her voice a little too loud in the darkened cabin full of sleeping humans.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’ve decided to tell him no. They’re interested in him - they think his talent could be useful. They’re going to offer him a place with them.”

“What will he say?” I wasn’t sure if my tone was indicative of my hope, though, I wasn’t sure which option I hoped for. On one hand, Edward would live, without my interference. I wouldn’t have to see him again, and he could live out the rest of his immortal days without me. On the other, he would never accept. I knew that. He would never agree to reside in Italy with human-drinking vampires, his supposed conscience would never let him. 

“I can’t see that yet, but I’ll bet it’s colourful.” She grinned again. “This is the first good news - the first break. They’re intrigued; they truly don’t want to destroy him - ‘wasteful’, that’s the word Aro will use - and that may be enough to force him to get creative. The longer he spends on his plans, the better for us.”

I sighed. “I really wish you could have been right about me. In the beginning, when you first saw things about me, when we met,” I paused. “When you saw me become one of you. Maybe then, this wouldn’t have happened.” I speculated.

“It was a possibility at the time.”

“At the time,” I repeated tentatively.

I rested my head against the seat, watching Alice concentrate on finding the answers to whether Edward would die by the hands of the Volturi or by suicide, and the next thing I knew, she was snapping the shade closed against the faint brightening in the eastern sky. 

“What’s happening?” I mumbled, groggy. 

“They’ve told him no,” she said quietly. I noticed at once that her enthusiasm was gone.

I knew he wouldn’t accept a place with the Volturi Guard, and yet my voice choked in my throat with panic. “What’s he going to do?”

“It was chaotic at first. I was only getting flickers, he was changing plans so quickly. He’s going to keep it simple. He’s just going to walk out into the sun.” 

It would be enough. I dredged up the repressed memory of Edward in the meadow - his skin created from diamond fragments packed into marble. No regular human who saw that would be able to forget that image. The Volturi couldn’t possibly allow it, especially not if they wanted to keep their city inconspicuous from the public eye.

“Right now, he’s leaning toward the melodramatic. He wants the biggest audience possible, so he’ll choose the main plaza, underneath the clock tower. The walls are high there. He’ll wait till the sun is exactly overhead.”

“So we have until noon?”

“If we’re lucky. If he sticks with this decision.”

* * *

A bright yellow Porsche slid to a stop almost at my feet, the word TURBO scrawled in silver cursive across its tailgate. Everyone else waiting to be picked up from the crowded airport sidewalk stared.

“Sheesh, Alice,” I complained. “Could you pick a _more_ conspicuous car to steal?” I asked as I raced around the bonnet of the sunny sports car and threw myself into the leather passenger side seat. 

“The important question,” she corrected, “is whether I could have stolen a faster car, and I don’t think so. I got lucky.”

If I had watched out of the window at the European landscape with any actual attention, I would have seen the outskirts of both Florence and Tuscany as they blurred past. Being my first trip outside of the US, and more than likely my last, I probably should have. But Alice’s erratic driving almost frightened me, even though I was well aware that I could trust her behind the wheel just as I had trusted Edward. She was pushing the Porsche nearly to its limits (the speedometer was much further to the right than the left), which was saying a lot, and I was too tortured with anxiety over Edward to take any notice of the rolling green hills or the walled towns that could be mistaken for castles that dotted the distance.

“There’s something going on,” Alice muttered. “Some kind of festival. The streets are full of people and red flags.” She thought for a second before continuing, “it’s Saint Marcus Day.”

“Which means?” I questioned. 

She chuckled darkly. “The city holds a celebration every year. As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, Father Marcus - Marcus of the Voltun, in fact - drove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course that’s nonsense - he’s never left the city. But that’s where some of the superstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from. _Father Marcus_ used them so successfully. And vampires don’t trouble Volterra, so they must work.” Her smile was sardonic. “It’s become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police force - after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get the credit.”

Ah, there’s the irony _._ “They’re not going to be very happy if Edward messes things up for them on St. Marcus Day, are they?”

She shook her head, her expression grim. “No. They’ll act very quickly.”

The sun was terrifyingly high in the pale blue sky. 

“He’s still planning on noon?” I checked. 

“Yes. He’s decided to wait. And they’re waiting for him.”

“Tell me what I have to do.”

A small red car seemed to be racing in reverse as Alice zoomed around it.

“I’m going to _get_ you as close as possible, and then you’re going to run in the direction I point you.”

The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it. It was too bright, and that had me almost panicking. Maybe he wouldn’t feel the need to wait for noon after all. 

“There,” Alice said abruptly, pointing to the castle city atop the closest hill. “Volterra,” she announced, in a flat, icy voice. 

* * *

The steep incline of the road we climbed was congested, the cars becoming too close for Alice to continue to weave madly between as we wound higher. The car in front of us was a little tan Peugeot, a relatively ugly colour to stare at while being barricaded behind.

Edging forward at a crawl, one car length at a time, the sun beamed down brilliantly above us, seeming already overhead. 

As we crept towards the city, people left cars parked along the edge of the road. At first, I thought it was just impatience - something I was very quickly coming to understand - but when we came around a switchback, I could see the filled parking lot outside the city wall. No one was being allowed to drive through, and instead, crowds of people walked through and towards the gates. 

Directing the flow of traffic was a stout man in a navy blue uniform. He was turning away the cars from the full lot, motioning lazily, and the redirected cars U-turned and headed back to find a space on edge of the road. The uniformed man was not paying a large amount of attention, and thus Alice accelerated, edging around him in the direction of the gate. He shouted something at us, but didn’t move from his position on the road, and continued to wave frantically at the next car so that they wouldn’t follow our bad example.

The man at the gate wore the same navy blue uniform as the one directing traffic. As we approached him, pedestrian tourists passed, staring cautiously from the sidewalks at the flashy yellow Porsche who had decided not to follow the rules. The guard stepped into the middle of the street, between us and the open gateway, before coming around to the driver’s side of the car with an irritated expression. He angrily tapped on Alice’s window.

“I’m sorry, only tour busses allowed in the city today, miss,’ he said apologetically in English, with a heavy Italian accent. 

Alice reached out of the car window and into the sunlight. I froze until I noted that she was wearing an elbow-length, tan glove. “It’s a private tour,” She said, flashing an alluring smile. She took his hand, pulling it slightly into the car. Thrust into his palm, his fingers folded around a wad of cash - the outside bill was a purple one, 500 Euro. 

His face was dazed as he retrieved his hand from the open window and stared at the thick roll of money he was now in possession of. He looked at Alice, eyes wide. 

Nervously, I glanced at the clock on the dash. Only five minutes left if Edward was sticking to his plan.

“I’m in a wee bit of a hurry,” she hinted, still smiling. 

The guard blinked twice, depositing the money into a pocket on the inside of his vest. He took a step away from the window and waved us on and through the gates. None of the passing pedestrians seemed to notice the quiet exchange, and we sighed in momentary relief as Alice drove forwards and into the city. 

Cobbled with the same coloured stones as the faded cinnamon-brown buildings darkening the street with their shade, the street was very narrow and it had the feel of an alleyway rather than a road. Crimson red flags hung on poles perpendicular to the sandstone walls, spaced only a few yards apart, flapping in the wind that whistled through the thin space.

It was crowded, and the foot traffic drastically slowed our progress. 

Alice’s swift and agile driving was reduced to quick spurts and sudden stops as the people in the crowd shook their fists, coupling the action with angry words that I was fortunate enough to not understand. She turned onto a little path that couldn’t have been meant for cars, shocking people who swiftly squeezed into doorways as we scraped by. There was another street at the end. The buildings were taller here; they leaned together overhead in such a way that no sunlight touched the pavement and the thrashing red flags on either side of the passageway nearly met. The crowd was thicker here than anywhere else, meaning that we were as close as we could get to the main festivities. Alice stopped the car, and I had the door open before we were at a standstill. 

She pointed to where the street widened into a bright patch of openness - as much as there could be considering the bodies filling the plaza. “There - we’re at the southern end of the square. Run straight across, to the right of the clock tower. You have two minutes. Go, Bella, go!” she shouted, climbing out of the car as she spoke. 

Brilliant sunlight beat down on me as I left the mouth of the dark lane. Vermilion enveloped me as I was swept into the close-pressed sea of bodies. No pathway or crevice was left between Saint Marcus Day patrons and so I pushed through and against them in furious determination, fighting hands that shoved back. Exclamations of irritation and sometimes pain could only just be heard above the chanting of the crowd, but none of it was in a language that I could understand. Surprised and angry faces blurred together as I barrelled through the throngs. A blonde woman scowled at me, the red scarf coiled around her neck looked like a gruesome wound. A child, perched on a man’s shoulders for a better vantage point of the occasion grinned down at me, his lips distended over a set of plastic, novelty vampire fangs.

The crowd jostled around me, I became disoriented quickly and had been spun in the wrong direction. I was glad that the clock tower was so visible or else I’d never be able to keep my course straight. Both hands of the clock pointed upwards towards the pitiless sun, and even as I pushed and shoved viciously against the flow of festival-patrons, I didn’t need Alice’s future-seeing abilities to know that I would be too late. I was only halfway across the plaza. I wouldn’t make it. I was stupid and slow and entirely too human. And all three of us would likely die because of it. 

I hoped that Alice would get out alive, at the very least. I hoped that she would see me from some dark shadow and know that I had failed, so that she could at least reunite with Jasper.

I listened, above the angry exclamations, trying to hear the sound of discovery: the gasp, maybe the scream, as Edward entered someone’s view, sparkling in a million diamond facets. 

A fountain had seemingly materialised in the middle of the plaza, my shin grazed the low wall as I flung my leg over it and into knee-deep water. Even in the sun, the wind was glacial, and the wetness of my jeans made the cold genuinely painful, but it was a blessing. The fountain was very wide, and it let me cross the centre of the square and then some in a matter of seconds. I didn’t stop when I hit the far edge, and instead used the fountain’s lip as a springboard to throw myself into the crowd. 

A deep, booming chime echoed through the plaza. It throbbed in the stones beneath my feet as children cried, covering their ears. 

There was a break in the throng, space between the sightseers and festival-goers who milled aimlessly around me. My eyes searched the darkened and narrow passage to the right of the wide square edifice at the base of the tower. The clock tolled again. 

“Edward, no!” I screamed, but my voice was lost in the roar of the chime. 

I could see him now. And I could see that he could not see me. 

As motionless as a marble statue, Edward stood just a few feet from the mouth of the alley. His eyes were closed, the rings underneath them a deep purple, and his arms relaxed at his sides, palms turned forward - he was accepting what he expected to happen next, and he seemed at peace with it as his expression showed that he was thinking of pleasant things. The ivory skin of his chest was bare, and a small pile of white fabric lay at his feet. The light reflecting from the pavement of the square gleamed dimly from his skin. 

I’d never been so relieved - even as I ran, gasping and screaming. And the last seven months almost meant nothing. And his words in the forest almost meant nothing. And it almost didn’t matter if he didn’t want me. A few months ago, I would have said something along the lines of ‘I would never want anything but him, no matter how long I lived,’ but I knew better now. 

The clock tolled, and he took a large stride toward the light.

“No!” I screamed. “Edward, look at me!”

He wasn’t listening. He smiled very slightly. He raised his foot to take the step that would put him directly in the path of the sun. 

I slammed into him so hard that the force would have hurled me to the ground if his arms hadn’t caught me and held me up. It knocked my breath out of me and snapped my head back. 

His dark eyes opened slowly as the clock tolled again. 

He looked down at me with quiet surprise. 

“Edward,” I tried to gasp, but my voice had no sound. “You have to get back into the shadows. You have to move!” 

My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin mixed with the sandstone of the enveloping alleyway walls. 

“I can’t believe how quick it was. I didn’t feel a thing - they’re very good,” he mused, closing his eyes again and pressing his lips against my hair. “ _Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty,_ ” he murmured, and I recognised the line spoken by Romeo in the tomb. The clock boomed out its final chime. “You smell exactly the same as always,” he went on. “So maybe this _is_ hell. I don’t care. I’ll take it.”

“I’m not dead,” I interrupted. “And neither are you! Please, Edward, we have to move. They can’t be far away! We’re not dead, not yet! But we have to _get_ out of here before the Volturi-”

Comprehension flickered on his face as I spoke. Before I could finish, he suddenly yanked me away from the edge of the shadows, spinning me effortlessly so that my back was tight against the brick wall, his back to me, as he faced away into the alley. His arms were spread wide, protectively, in front of me. 

I peeked under his arm to see two dark shapes detach themselves from the gloom.


	2. O N E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter containing rewritten New Moon!

“Greetings, gentlemen,” Edward’s voice was calm and pleasant, but there was a clear, dark undertone to his words. “I don’t think I’ll be requiring your services today. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would send my thanks to your masters.”

“Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue?” a smooth voice whispered menacingly.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary.” The dark undertone made its way to the surface, his voice hardening. “I know your instructions, Felix. I haven’t broken any rules.”

“Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun," the other shadow said in a soothing tone. Both figures were concealed within smokey grey cloaks that reached to the ground and undulated in the wind. "Let us seek better cover." 

"I'll be right behind you," Edward said dryly. "Bella, why don't you go back to the square and enjoy the festival?" 

"No, bring the girl," the first shadow said, somehow injecting a leer into his whisper. 

"I don't think so." The pretence of civility disappeared. Edward's voice was flat and icy. His weight shifted infinitesimally, and I could see that he was preparing to fight. 

"No." I mouthed the word. 

"Shh," he murmured, only for me. 

"Felix," the second, more reasonable shadow cautioned. "Not here." He turned to Edward. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all." 

"Certainly," Edward agreed. '"But the girl goes free." 

"I'm afraid that's not possible," the polite shadow said regretfully. "We do have rules to obey."

"Then  _ I'm _ afraid that I'll be unable to accept Aro's invitation, Demetri." 

"That's just fine," Felix purred. My eyes were adjusting to the deep shade, and I could see that Felix could very well be taller and more broad through the shoulders than even Emmett was.

"Aro will be disappointed," Demetri sighed. He was much shorter than his companion, maybe a little under six feet tall. He seemed as though he would be more lithe, agile, than his partner.

"I'm sure he'll survive the letdown," Edward replied.

Felix and Demetri edged closer towards the mouth of the alleyway, splitting away from each other slightly so that they could come at Edward from two sides. They were attempting to cordon him deeper into the darkened space, to avoid making an accidental scene should a fight be necessary. The light reflecting from the pavement would not permeate their charcoal cloaks, keeping them safe from exposure. 

Edward didn’t move an inch, dooming himself by protecting me. 

A sound or movement too minuscule for my very human senses to pick up on set all three vampires on edge, heads whipping towards the darkness of the winding alley. 

“Let’s behave ourselves, shall we?” a lilting voice suggested. "There are ladies present."

Alice stepped lightly from the shadows to Edward’s side, her stance casual and relaxed with no hint of underlying-tension. She looked so innocent, childlike in both stature and mannerism as she swung her tiny arms.

Yet Demetri and Felix both straightened up, their cloaks swirling slightly as a gust of wind funnelled through the alley. Felix's face soured. Apparently, they didn't like even numbers. 

"We're not alone," she reminded them.

Demetri glanced a few yards into the plaza, where the little family with the girls in their red festival dresses were watching us. The woman and her husband were conversing, eyeing the five of us. She looked away when Demetri met her gaze. The man left our field of vision, walking to the left of the tunnel and out of sight.

Demetri shook his head. "Please, Edward, let's be reasonable," he said. 

"Let's," Edward agreed. "And we'll leave quietly now, with no one the wiser." 

Demetri sighed in frustration. "At least let us discuss this more privately."

Six men, all dressed in red, now approached the mother and her two daughters with their father. I was very conscious of Edward’s protective stance in front of me and recognised this as their cause for alarm. I wanted to scream at them to run. 

Edward's teeth came together audibly. "No." 

Felix smiled. 

"Enough."

The voice was high and delicate, holding an air of power. It came from somewhere in the darkness behind where we stood. 

A third dark shape emerged from the alley, smaller than Demetri, possibly smaller than Alice. Their darkened grey cloak billowed at the edges in their gait towards us, and I knew it was another Guard. Who else?

At first, I thought they could have been a young boy. The newest member of our party of six was the smallest, marginally smaller than Alice, with mousy blonde hair cropped near to their skull. The body under the darker cloak was slim, petite, and androgynous (no feminine curves or masculine shoulders), but the face was too pretty for a boy. At second glance, the figure’s hair was not close-cropped, but was, in fact, pulled back away from their profile in a series of french braids. The wide-eyed, full-lipped face would make a Botticelli angel look akin to a gargoyle - even allowing for the dull crimson irises.

Her size was so insignificant that the reaction to her emergence seemed disjunct - without taking into account the colour difference in their cloaks. Felix and Demetri relaxed immediately, dropping their offensive positioning and body language to blend again with the shadows of the overhanging walls. 

Edwards relaxed also, dropping his arms to his sides and straightening up - but in defeat. 

"Jane," he sighed in recognition and resignation. 

Alice folded her arms across her chest, her expression impassive. 

"Follow me," Jane spoke again, her childish voice a monotone. She turned her back on us and drifted silently into the dark. 

Felix gestured for us to go first, smirking. 

Alice didn’t hesitate, stepping behind the little Jane at once. Edward pulled me along with an arm around my waist beside her. The alley angled downward as it narrowed. Edward shook his head in response to my questioning gaze. No sound echoed from behind our little party of four, but I was sure that Felix and Demetri were bringing up the rear. 

"Well, Alice," Edward said conversationally as we walked. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you here." 

"It was my mistake," Alice answered in the same tone. "It was my job to set it right." 

"What happened?" His voice was polite, as if he were barely interested. I imagined this was due to the listening ears behind us. 

"It's a long story." Alice's eyes flickered toward me and away. "In summary, she did jump off a cliff, but she wasn't trying to kill herself. Bella's all about the extreme sports these days."

Blood rushed towards my cheeks as I turned my eyes straight ahead, looking for the dark shadow of Jane that I could no longer see. Edward would no doubt be reading Alice’s mind as we walked, seeing my near-drowning, the werewolf pack, and my foray with Laurent. All things I had done to see him again, even if only in hallucinations.

"Hm," Edward said curtly, and the casual tone of his voice was gone

The alley rounded in a loose curve, still slanting slightly downward, so I didn’t see the squared-off dead end coming until we reached the flat, windowless, brick face. Jane was nowhere to be seen. 

Alice didn't hesitate, didn't so much as break pace as she strode toward the wall. Then, with easy grace, she slid down an open hole in the street. 

It looked like a drain, sunk into the lowest point of the paving. I hadn't noticed it until Alice disappeared, but the grate was halfway pushed aside. The hole was small and black. 

I balked. 

"It's all right, Bella," Edward said in a low voice. "Alice will catch you." 

I eyed the hole doubtfully. I imagine he would have gone first, if Demetri and Felix hadn't been waiting, smug and silent, behind us. 

I crouched down, swinging my legs into the narrow gap. 

"Alice?" I whispered, voice trembling. 

"I'm right here, Bella," she reassured me. Her voice came from too far below to make me feel better. 

Edward took my wrists - his hands felt like stones in winter - and lowered me into the blackness. 

"Ready?" he asked. 

"Drop her," Alice called.

Closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see the darkness, I clamped my mouth shut so I wouldn’t let loose the scream building in my throat. Edward let me fall. 

It was silent and short. The air whipped past me for less than a second, and then, with a huff as I exhaled, Alice’s waiting arms caught me before I hit the ground.

I was going to have bruises; her arms were very hard. She stood me upright.

Not quite black, the light from the hole in the roof of the chamber provided a faint glow, reflecting wetly from the stones under my feet. The light lost to the darkness for a second when Edward entered the room, but he became a faint, white radiance beside me. He put his arm around me, holding me close to his side. On any other day, I would have melted into his embrace. Edward began to tow me swiftly forward, and so I tripped and stumbled my way across the uneven stone surface. The heavy grate was replaced over the drain hole by one of the tailing Guard, ringing with metallic finality. 

Even the dim glow from the street was quickly lost to the darkness. My staggering footsteps echoed through the blackened space; it sounded wide, but I couldn’t be sure with my faulty human hearing. The only sounds escaping our group were my frantic heartbeat (which the vampires probably would’ve been able to hear even without their enhanced senses) and my still-wet converse on the damp stones - except for once, when an impatient sigh whispered from behind me. 

Edward held me tightly, reaching his free hand across his body to hold my face, his smooth thumb tracing across my lips. I only tolerated it because this was likely the only reunion that we would get. Now and then, I felt his face press into my hair, though I’m sure it was only his nose that I felt in my scalp and not his lips - this action was about him, he wanted to feel my scent near his almost certain end, and not about comforting me nor appreciation of my presence. It wasn’t affectionate, it was selfish. 

Guilt most likely played its own role also - the same guilt that had compelled him to temporarily relocate to Volterra for his death sentence when he’d believed that I had killed myself and it was his fault. For now, he wanted me, if only in a self-centred regard. Months ago, I would have been happy to even be in his proximity before one or both of us met our end. I would have said that it was better than living out a long life. I didn’t think that anymore. 

I wanted to ask him exactly what was going to happen - I wanted to know desperately how we were going to die. Everyone except me knew what to expect. 

Edward knew he would face the punishment for almost exposing the vampiric secret to the public, as well as fraternising with a human. Felix, Demetri, and Jane knew how their Masters would sentence Edward’s offences. And Alice could outright see the future, she would have already seen multiple outcomes to whatever was coming next. 

The path beneath our feet continued to slope downward, taking us deeper into the ground beneath the Italian city. The air around us turned dark grey and I was starting to pick out the surrounding walls, and I now knew that the ceiling of the tunnel was arched, feet above even Felix’s head. Long trails of ebony moisture trailed between the grey stones, as if they were bleeding ink. 

I had begun shaking, and I first thought it was from fear and the imminent threat of death. But then my teeth began to chatter together percussively and I realised that I was cold - my clothes were still wet, and the temperature beneath the city was the kind of cold it takes a while to notice. Edward’s skin was just as cold.

He realised this at the same time that I did, and let go of me. Only our hands maintained contact. 

I thought twice before I decided not to throw my arms around him again. Sure, we might be nearing slaughter, but I had to remind myself that he left me in the first place.

The pace that the others had set seemed fast, hurried, to me, and yet I knew we moved incredibly slowly to accommodate my human-ness. These thoughts were punctuated by Felix and his occasionally heaved sighs that permeated the near-silence every few minutes. 

At the end of the tunnel was a grate with rusting iron bars about as thick as my forearm. There was a door made of thinner, interlaced bars that stood open leading into a far larger and startlingly brighter stone room. I had to blink a few times to refocus my eyes to accommodate the light, and as I did so, the grille slammed shut with a  _ clang,  _ followed by the grating sound of a deadbolt and then the snap of a lock. I didn’t want to look behind me at the secured door.

On the other side of the long chamber was a heavy wooden door. It was thick - a fact I knew because it, too, had been left open. 

I relaxed automatically as I stepped through this doorway. Edward’s hand still resting in mine, he tensed, jaw clenched tight. 

It seemed that we had now entered the actual Volturi castle, in a brightly lit and unremarkable hallway. The walls were slightly off-white, the floor carpeted in the same industrial grey carpet one would likely find in an office building. Common fluorescent bar lights were spaced evenly along the high ceiling, and oil-painted artworks hung, illuminated by smaller spotlights inset in the walls. The abrupt change from dank, ghoulish tunnel to crisp, almost benign hallway was welcomed, accentuated by the warmth that I was grateful for. 

Edward seemed far less welcoming of the change in scenery as well as my assessment of the space. He glowered darkly down the lengthy hallway, toward the dark-cloaked figure standing menacingly in front of the open elevator. 

Alice walked on my other side as Edward pulled me along, the heavy door we had entered through creaked shut behind us. I assumed we had just exited one of possibly hundreds of access or service tunnels leftover from the previous inhabitants of the castle. Though, thinking about it, it was possible that the Volturi had even built the castle, hundreds or maybe even thousands of years ago. 

Jane’s expression was apathetic as she watched us, one hand between the elevator doors. 

Once inside, the three Guard relaxed, throwing back their cloaks to let the hoods fall on their shoulders. 

Felix and Demetri would have had an olive complexion had they been human, but this, combined with their vampiric chalky pallor, looked odd. Felix’s black hair was cropped in the way I had thought Jane’s was, but Demetri’s rested, wavy, just below his shoulders. Their irises were deep crimson, darkening towards blackness around the pupil. 

Beneath the cloaks, both male vampires wore nondescript, grey button-down shirts and black slacks. Jane, however, wore a black, knee-length dress and light coloured stockings - she could almost be mistaken for a schoolgirl. 

All three Guard wore silver Volturi crests - a ruby stone embedded above a four-part shield that had been superimposed over a Roman-font V - on thick chains over the lapels of their cloaks, something I hadn’t noticed earlier. 

The elevator ride was short; we stepped out into a high-class reception area, carrying over the ‘office’ theme I had considered in the hallway. The walls were panelled in wood, floors carpeted in thick, deep emerald green - like grass that hadn’t been mowed in a few weeks. There were no windows, but large paintings similar to those in the hallway hung everywhere as replacements. Several black leather couches were dotting the space, arranged in cozy groupings around glass coffee tables that held crystal vases full of brightly coloured flowers. The fragrance reminded me of a funeral home. 

In the middle of the room was a high, polished mahogany counter. The woman behind it was tall and slim, with olive-toned skin and eyes in the same dark green hue as the carpet. In any other context, any other company, she would have been model-stunning. But she was every bit as human as I was - which was why I couldn’t comprehend what she was doing here, totally at ease, surrounded by human-drinking vampires. 

She smiled politely at our little group, no surprise in her face as she glanced between the six of us. “Good afternoon, Jane,” she said.

“Gianna.” 

We followed the little blonde vampire through a set of double doors in the back of the room, Gianna giggling as Felix winked at her in passing. 

On the other side of the wooden doors was a different kind of reception. 

A pale boy in a grey suit stood between two marble pillars. He had so much likeness to Jane it was incredibly possible that they were twins. His hair was two shades darker, and his lips weren’t quite as full, but he was just as lovely. He opened his arms in greeting, reaching for Jane.

“Alec.” She said, embracing the boy and exchanging a cheek kiss each. Then he looked at us.

“They send you out for one and you come back with two… and a half,” he noted, looking at me. “Nice work, sister.”

She laughed - the sound sparkling with delight.

"Welcome back, Edward," Alec greeted him. "You seem in a better mood." 

"Marginally," Edward agreed in a flat voice. I glanced at Edward's hard face, wondering how his mood could have been darker before. 

Alec chuckled, examining me as I clung to Edward's side. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?" he asked, sceptical. Edward only smiled, his expression contemptuous. Then he froze.

“Dibs,” Felix called casually from behind us. 

Edward turned, a snarl building from his chest, to a smiling Felix. The larger vampire’s hand was raised, palm up, as he curled his fingers towards himself twice. He was taunting Edward, inviting him forward. 

Alice touched Edward’s arm. “Patience,” she cautioned him. 

They exchanged a long glance, and I wished I could hear what she was telling him. I figured that it was something to do with not attacking Felix, because Edward took a deep breath and turned back to Alec. 

"Aro will be so pleased to see you again," Alec said, as if nothing had passed. 

"Let's not keep him waiting," Jane suggested. 

Edward nodded once.

Alec and Jane held hands as they led us down another ornate hallway, ignoring the gold-sheathed doors at the end of the corridor to slide a piece of the wall’s panelling to expose an unlocked plain, wooden door. Alec held it open for Jane. 

The antechamber was stone, dark and cold just as the alley and the sewers had been. I wanted to groan. It was small, but opened out quickly into a brighter, cavernous room, perfectly rounded like a huge castle turret - which was probably exactly what it was. 

Long window slits threw rectangles of bright Italian sunlight onto the stone floor from two or three storeys above. There were no artificial lights. The only furniture in the room were three massive wooden chairs, like thrones, spaced evenly upon a stage-like outcropping that jutted about a third of the way into the room at the far end, four steps leading up to them. In the very centre of the circular room, in a slight depression, was another drain. 

The room was not empty of bodies. A handful of people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation. The murmur of low, smooth voices was a gentle hum in the air. 

The exquisite faces all turned towards our entering party, and the humming of the voices ceased. Most of the immortals were dressed in a business-casual style. The majority of the male vampires wore button-down shirts in pale and neutral tones, both tucked and untucked from black or grey slacks - very similar to Felix and Demetri’s outfits. The vampiric women mostly wore light coloured sundresses, a few had opted for darker ensembles in the form of blacks and greys. Only Felix, Demetri, and Jane wore cloaks, but almost every vampire in the room wore the Volturi crest. 

The man who spoke first was clad head to toe in black. The obviously tailored suit contrasted his paleness in such a way that reminded me of paper and ink. For a moment, I thought that his long, jet-black hair was a hood of some kind. A gold Volturi crest hung at his chest, but the gem was set between the prongs of the V was black, onyx or obsidian if I had to guess.

"Jane, dear one, you've returned!" he cried in evident delight. His voice echoed throughout the room.

He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with ethereal grace that I gawked, my mouth hanging open. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare to this vampire’s movement.

I was only more taken aback when he floated closer, and I could discern his features. I couldn’t decide if ‘beautiful’ was the word I would use to describe him. He was, of course, unnaturally attractive, just as the faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; two other suit-wearing men had converged onto the outside thrones, while a male and female vampire walked slightly ahead of him with the alert manner of bodyguards), and his features were text-book perfect, but clearly not from a modern age. His skin was only slightly more pale than Edward and Alice, but looked, somehow, both delicate and incredibly hard. I had likened Edward to a marble statue, but the vampire almost upon us fit the description far better. His dark hair framed his face, pulled back along the temples and tied behind his head. His eyes were the same crimson as the other human-drinkers in the room, but in places, they seemed almost clouded, milky; I wondered if his vision was affected by the haze. 

He glided to Jane, took her face in his papery hands, kissed her lightly on her cheek, and then floated back a step. 

"Yes, Master." Jane smiled; the expression made her look like an angelic child. "I brought him back alive, just as you wished." 

"Ah, Jane." He smiled, too. "You are such a comfort to me." 

He turned his misty eyes toward Alice, and the smile brightened - becoming almost ecstatic. "And Alice and Isabella, too!" he rejoiced, clapping his thin hands together. "This  _ is _ a happy surprise! Wonderful!"

I didn’t correct him, I just stared in shock as he spoke our names so informally, as if we were old friends dropping in for an unexpected visit. He had not once met my eyes.

"You see, Edward?" The strange vampire turned and smiled at Edward like a fond but scolding grandfather. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?" 

"Yes, Aro, I am," he agreed, tightening his arm around my waist. 

"I love a happy ending." Aro sighed. "They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did this happen? Alice?" He turned to gaze at Alice with curious, wine-red eyes. "Your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake." 

"Oh, I'm far from infallible." She flashed a dazzling smile. She looked perfectly at ease, except that her hands were balled into tight little fists at her side. "As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them." 

"You're too modest," Aro chided. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit I've never observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!"

Alice flickered a glance at Edward. Aro did not miss it. 

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know you already, and I tend to get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not." Aro shook his head; his tone was envious. 

"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward added dryly. He looked at Alice as he quickly explained. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had." 

Alice raised her delicate eyebrows, and Edward inclined his head. 

Aro didn't miss that either. 

"But to be able to hear from a distance…" Aro sighed, gesturing toward the two of them, and the exchange that had just taken place. "That would be so convenient."

Seeming to remember that he had an audience, Aro turned. "Marcus, Caius, look!" He crooned. "Isabella is alive after all, and Alice is here with her! Isn't that wonderful?"

Both looked similar to Aro, the one on the left (the one I knew to be Marcus) even had the same long, dark hair - though his was more like Demetri’s as it curled in loose waves around his shoulders. His crest hung at his chest atop, what looked to be, an 18th-century dress shirt. The other (assumedly Caius) directly contrasted, snow-white hair sat an inch above his shoulders. They shared the same pallor, giving the illusion of likeness, but looking closer, there were many differences between the three vampires. 

Even all three of their Volturi insignias were different; the inset gemstones were different, even from their Guard. I’d noticed Aro’s to be black, onyx or obsidian, while the other dark-haired vampire had an orange stone, probably citrine or topaz. The third King had a diamond - he must enjoy the ‘lightened’ aesthetic.

But neither of the two looked as if  _ wonderful _ would be among their first choice of words. The brunet vampire seemed utterly bored, as if he’d seen too many millennia of Aro’s enthusiasm. The other’s demeanour was sour, closed-off and perhaps a little pretentious beneath the snowy hair. 

Their lack of interest did not curb Aro's enjoyment. 

"It's just so difficult to understand, even now," Aro mused, staring at Edward's arm wrapped around me. It was hard for me to follow Aro's chaotic train of thought. I struggled to keep up. "How can you stand so close to her like that?" He asked, still not having met my eyes. 

"It's not without effort," Edward answered calmly. 

"But still - la tua cantante! What a waste!" 

Edward chuckled once without humour. "I look at it more as a price." 

Aro was sceptical. "A very high price." 

"Opportunity cost."

Aro laughed. "If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone's blood could be so strong. I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such a gift, and yet you…" 

"Waste it," Edward finished, his voice sarcastic now.

"Your memories of him are quite a gift for me, though they astonish me exceedingly. I am surprised by how it… pleases me, Carlisle’s success in this unorthodox path he's chosen. I expected that he would waste, weaken with time. I'd scoffed at his plan to find others who would share his peculiar vision. Yet, somehow, I'm happy to be wrong."

Edward didn't reply. 

"But your restraint!" Aro sighed. "I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself against such a siren call, not just once but again and again—if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed." 

Edward gazed back at Aro's admiration with no expression. I knew his face well enough - time had not changed that - to guess at something seething beneath the surface. I fought to keep my breathing even. 

"Just remembering how she appeals to you…" Aro chuckled. "It makes me a little thirsty." 

Edward tensed.

"Don't be disturbed," Aro reassured him. "I mean her no harm. I simply think it to be interesting that you misconstrue your  _ singer  _ for a  _ mate _ .”

I looked at Edward, confused by Aro’s comment. La tua cantante? Singer?  _ Mate?  _

The ancient vampire standing before us must have registered my confusion at the statement. 

“You aren’t aware, Isabella?”

I looked at my shoes, embarrassed that I was in the presence of vampiric kings and yet I didn’t understand what was being said, even after spending a year in the embrace of the Olympic coven. 

“La tua cantante, a vampire’s  _ singer _ , is someone who’s blood calls to us, begging us to spill it from the confines of the body it is created and housed in. Usually, we only come across one singer every few hundred years, though, Edward has been lucky enough to meet his before his hundred-and-fiftieth birthday. And yet, he quenches his thirst, because he believes that you are his  _ mate _ , a being created from the same essence as themselves, a perfect fit for each other. He believes his inability to read your mind is a sign that you are meant for him.” He paused, and I lifted my eyes from my shoes as he stared Edward in the eye. “And yet, for a singer to be an intended  _ mate _ ? That is simply not how Fate operates. The singer is food, they are simply a means to an end. Our  _ mate  _ is something that we will cherish  _ forever _ , not merely for the seconds that we drain them, or in your case, the months you have suffered through to  _ not  _ drain her.”

Vampires have  _ soulmates.  _

If Edward was so sure that I was his, why would he not turn me? He knew how much I wanted - how much I  _ want, need  _ \- to become one of them. 

“But I am  _ so  _ curious, about one thing in particular.” Edward’s jaw clenched and he moved his gaze to the wall rather than Aro. “Do you think that she will have the same blockage to my gift as well?” He asked. 

Edward looked almost pained, taking his time to consider his answer before Aro cut off his voice in his throat before he could speak. 

“If she does, I discredit your assumption,’ he says, referring to me. “If she does, you will know that she is not intended for you. Your hope will have been misled.”

“I am aware. Ask her yourself.” Edward barks out.

Aro turns to me as I meet his gaze. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment with some feedback if you feel so inclined :)


	3. T W O

When I thought of soulmates, I envisioned two halves to a circle. Two beings created to complement each other in a perfect harmony. 

So when I felt something deep in my soul shift, it confused me.

It wasn’t how the media depicted soulmates, that’s for sure. There was no immediate need to run into his arms and kiss passionately in front of anyone who was present in the room. There was no rush of intense longing, nor was there a hidden feeling of love or affection that bubbled to the surface. 

There was only a shift. Some minuscule piece of my soul had slotted itself into Fate’s jigsaw puzzle as the world slowed down for a few seconds. 

By the furrowing of his brows, I knew he felt it too. The ancient vampire king standing in front of me, eyes locked on mine, seemed just as confused as I was. 

Somewhere in my periphery, I registered Edward being restrained by Felix. He thrashed around in the larger vampire’s restrictive embrace but couldn’t break from his arms. The veins in his neck protruded and his jaw was clenched so hard I might have been worried that he would break his teeth.

Marcus shifted in his throne, suddenly interested in the scene laid out before him. He no longer exuded apathy, and instead sat with rapt attention.

Caius eyed Aro, breaking his angry and pretentious body language to show the same interest as his brother.

Aro and I hadn’t broken eye contact.

“ _ Magnifico _ ,” he breathed out, barely audible.

Somewhere to my left, Edward had been forced to his knees, Felix holding him down by the shoulders as Demetri materialised in front of him, hands gripping around Edward’s temples. 

If I had looked at Alice, I would’ve seen a small, knowing smile grace her pixie-like features.

Marcus moved to stand beside Aro, causing him to look away from me and at his fellow King. I monitored Marcus’ movement as he pressed his hand into Aro’s. A calm sense of understanding ghosted over his face as he searched Marcus’ memory for what he wished to tell him. 

I wondered what Marcus’ gift was that he felt it so important to show Aro what he had discovered right at this moment. I wondered if Caius had a gift. 

As soon as Aro dropped Marcus’ hand he looked at me again. 

“Isabella, may I?” He asked, gesturing to the hand that rested in the pocket of my jeans. I lifted it immediately and laid it in his outstretched palm. I trusted him, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. 

“ _ Allucinante _ , I see nothing.” He said as he released my hand and drifted a few feet backwards. "I wonder if she is immune to our other talents… Jane, dear?" 

"No!" Edward snarled the word from his knees between the two Guard vampires. 

Little Jane smiled up happily at Aro. "Yes, Master?" 

Edward was truly snarling now, the sound ripping and tearing from him, glaring at Aro with baleful eyes. The room had gone still, everyone watching him with amazed disbelief, as if he were committing some embarrassing social faux pas. I saw Demetri grin hopefully and grip Edward’s temples a little harder. Aro glanced at him once, and he relaxed his grip, his grin turning to a sulky expression. 

Then he spoke to Jane. "I was wondering, my dear one, if Isabella is immune to  _ you _ ."

Caius sat stock-straight in his throne, eyes pursed and focussed on me. 

Jane turned towards me with a smile I could only describe as sadistic, then she too narrowed her eyes, focussed on me. After a second or two, her jaw clenched slightly, and she squinted marginally harder.

I didn’t move. The room watched for a reaction. 

I looked to Aro, tilting my head slightly in question. 

“ _ Meravigliosa _ , she confounds us all.” He said, clapping his hands together. 

Edward was squirming in the grip of Felix and Demetri. 

“Let us show Isabella your power, Jane.”

Jane reacted immediately, focussing her gaze entirely on Edward instead of me. The two Guard had moved away, careful to not get into Jane’s line of sight, and I understood the reaction to the little vampire from the alleyway. 

No one was touching him, and yet he was writhing on the stone floor in agony while Alice and I watched in horror. 

Jane was smiling. 

“Please, stop.” I asked, my voice taking on a slightly pleading tone. 

“Jane,” Aro recalled in a soft voice, raising his arms and putting both palms towards the little blonde vampire, signaling her to cease.

“Master.” She moved her eyes to Aro, awaiting another command. Edward stopped writhing and both Felix and Demetri moved back to their former positions in front and behind the vampire. 

Aro inclined his head towards me.

“Now you know what you missed out on. Being on the receiving end of Jane’s gift is quite excruciating, and young Edward here was very brave to endure such torture in silence. I asked her to do it to me once - just out of curiosity,” he chortled, shaking his head. 

"So what do we do with you now?" Aro sighed. 

Edward and Alice stiffened. This was the part they'd been waiting for. I began to tremble. 

"I don't suppose there's any chance that you've changed your mind?" Aro asked Edward - who was still on his knees between the two Guard vampires - hopefully. "Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company." 

Edward hesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw both Felix and Jane grimace. 

Edward seemed to weigh each word before he spoke it. "I'd… rather… not." 

"Alice?" Aro asked, still hopeful. "Would you perhaps be interested in joining with us?" 

"No, thank you," Alice said.

"And you, Isabella?" Aro raised his eyebrows. 

Edward hissed, low in my ears. I stared at Aro blankly. Was he joking?

He felt the shift too, I knew it. Marcus knew something of it also, and Alice was glancing at me hopefully. 

I had wanted Alice’s gift of foresight earlier, but now I found myself wishing for either Edward’s or Aro’s. 

Was he really prepared to let me go? He had said only minutes before that a mate was to be ‘cherished forever’, and he was going to give me the choice to join his coven instead of forcing me to?

It was the white-haired Caius who broke the silence. 

"What?" he demanded of Aro; his voice, though no more than a whisper, was flat. 

"Caius, surely you see the potential," Aro chided him affectionately. "I haven't seen a prospective talent so promising since we found Jane and Alec. Can you imagine the possibilities when she is one of us?"

Was he actively choosing not to tell Caius why he wanted me to stay with the Volturi? Did Caius have some kind of bias against me because of Edward? Because of Carlisle, perhaps? Was Caius averse to turning humans like Edward was?

Caius looked away with a caustic expression. Jane looked put out, eyes sparking with indignation at Aro’s comparison. 

Edward fumed beside me. I could hear a rumble in his chest, building toward a growl. I couldn't let his temper get him hurt.

"No, thank you," I spoke up in barely more than a whisper, my voice breaking in fright. I didn’t want to say that. I wanted to live among the vampires, as one of them. Aro would turn me. He had quite literally just offered to, without my request. 

Aro sighed, and I didn’t miss the hurt look in his eyes. "That's unfortunate. Such a waste." 

Alice looked at me in confusion.

Edward hissed. "Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws."

The tone of his voice surprised me. He sounded irate, but there was something deliberate about his delivery - as if he'd chosen his words with great care. 

"Of course not." Aro blinked, astonished. "We were already convened here, Edward, awaiting Heidi's return. Not for you." 

"Aro," Caius hissed. "The law claims them." 

Edward glared at Caius. "How so?" he demanded. He must have known what Caius was thinking, but he seemed determined to make him speak it aloud. 

Caius pointed a pale finger at me. "She knows too much. You have exposed our secrets." His voice was strong and booming, carrying the weight of allegation. 

"There are a few humans in on your charade here, as well," Edward reminded him, and I thought of the pretty receptionist below. 

Caius's face twisted into a new expression. Was it supposed to be a smile? 

"Yes," he agreed. "But when they are no longer useful to us, they will serve to sustain us. That is not your plan for this one. If she betrays our secrets, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not," he scoffed. 

I looked at Aro. "I wouldn't-," I began, still whispering. Caius silenced me with an icy look. 

"Nor do you intend to make her one of us," Caius continued. "Therefore, she is a vulnerability. Though it is true, for this, only  _ her _ life is forfeit. You may leave if you wish." 

Edward bared his teeth. 

"That's what I thought," Caius said, with something akin to pleasure. 

Felix leaned forward, eager. 

"Unless…" Aro interrupted. He looked unhappy with the way the conversation had gone. He eyed me. "Unless you do intend to give her immortality?" 

Edward pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment before he answered. "And if I do?"

Aro smiled, happy again. "Why, then you would be free to go home and give my regards to my friend Carlisle." His expression turned more hesitant. "But I'm afraid you would have to mean it." 

Aro raised his hand in front of him. 

Caius, who had begun to scowl furiously, relaxed. 

Marcus looked at his brother, confused.

Edward's lips tightened into a fierce line. He stared into my eyes, and I stared back.

"Mean it," I whispered. "Please." 

Was it really such a loathsome idea? Would he rather  _ die _ than change me? I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach. 

Edward stared up at me with a tortured expression. 

And then Alice stepped away from us, forward toward Aro. We turned to watch her. Her hand was raised like his. 

She didn't say anything, and Aro waved off the anxious female Guard who had originally stepped forward with Aro as she moved to block Alice’s approach. Aro met her halfway, and took her hand with an eager, acquisitive glint in his eyes. He knew that he would see me, as a vampire, most likely at his side. I didn’t have to have his gift to know that. 

He bent his head over their touching hands, his eyes closing as he concentrated. Alice was motionless, her face blank. I heard Edward's teeth snap together. 

No one moved. Aro seemed frozen over Alice's hand. The seconds passed and I grew more and more stressed, wondering how much time would pass before it was too much time. Before it meant something was wrong - more wrong than it already was. I couldn’t believe that Edward would rather die than turn me. But then, I knew that he knew that we weren’t what he had thought we were - we weren’t destined for eachother as he had hoped. 

And I was grateful for that. If he had left me, unprotected save for the wolf pack, while he thought we were mates, how much did he really care about me?

Another agonizing moment passed, and then Aro's voice broke the silence. 

"Ha, ha, ha," he laughed, his head still bent forward. He looked up slowly, his eyes bright with excitement. "That was  _ fascinating _ !" 

Alice smiled dryly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." 

"To see the things you've seen - especially the ones that haven't happened yet!" He shook his head in wonder. 

"But that will," she reminded him, voice calm. 

"Yes, yes, it's quite determined. Certainly, there's no problem." 

Caius looked bitterly disappointed - a feeling he seemed to share with Felix and Jane. 

"Aro," Caius complained. 

"Dear Caius," Aro smiled. "Do not fret. Think of the possibilities! They do not join us today, but we can always hope for the future. Imagine the joy young Alice alone would bring to our little household… Besides, I'm so terribly curious to see how Isabella turns out!" 

Aro seemed convinced. But, that was most likely because he knew that if either Alice or Edward wouldn’t turn me, he would - or, at the very least, would have someone turn me so that I could join them. 

Would it make any difference if I was turned by Aro or another member of the Guard, when the idea was so repulsive to Edward in general? If death was, to him, a better alternative than having me around forever, an immortal annoyance? 

I wasn’t afraid. The other vampires in the large stone room should have insighted immense fear in my very human self. I was in a confined space with around ten blood-drinking vampires, and yet I found courage in knowing that Aro - and possibly Marcus - wouldn’t allow anything happen to me. I knew that those who had gifts couldn’t use them on me, and everyone else would be at the mercy of the Volturi Kings rule, and two of those three Kings would keep me safe. 

"Then we are free to go now?" Edward asked in an even voice. 

"Yes, yes," Aro said pleasantly. "But please visit again. It's been absolutely enthralling!" 

"And we will visit you as well," Caius promised, his eyes suddenly half-closed like the heavy-lidded gaze of a lizard. "To be sure that you follow through on your side. Were I you, I would not delay too long. We do not offer second chances." 

Edward's jaw clenched tight, but he nodded once.

He was released from Felix and Demetri’s grasp before he sidled over to me and wrapped a protective arm around my waist. 

Aro took a calming breath. Was he possessive of me already?

I wiggled out from Edward’s arm as he and Alice turned to exit the room. 

“I will be turned, and it will be here, and I  _ will  _ join you.” I stated, glancing around the room in an attempt to meet everyone’s eyes. My gaze rested on Aro. “I will join you.” 

The weight of my words seemed to carry. 

Marcus looked pleased, the edges of his mouth turned up in a slight smile, he nodded at me, maintaining my eye contact when my line of sight met his. 

Edward seemed hurt, betrayed by my proclamation to become one of the Volturi coven. Perhaps he should have thought about turning me sooner, or had the forethought not to leave, and avoid this entire event. 

In an emotion akin to Marcus’, Alice seemed delighted at my declaration, though she smiled fully, the action even making it to her eyes. 

And Aro. The brunet Volturi King looked hopeful, as if he didn’t quite believe my announcement to be true, despite most likely seeing it just seconds before in Alice’s vision. He stepped forwards to stand in front of me, reaching a marble hand out to stroke along the curve of my cheek. He slipped something into the front pocket of my jeans.

Felix groaned. 

"Ah, Felix." Aro smiled, amused. "Heidi will be here at any moment. Patience." 

"Hmm." Edward's voice had a new edge to it. "In that case, perhaps we'd better leave sooner rather than later." 

"Yes," Aro agreed, stepping away from me. "That's a good idea. Accidents  _ do _ happen. And we wouldn’t want our  _ dear _ Isabella to be caught in the middle.”

Alice moved until she was next to me, taking my left hand in her right. “She will be taken care of,” she said with finalty, directing a smile at Aro.

“Be sure of it.”

* * *

“What the  _ hell  _ was that, Alice?”

“What?” She asked her adoptive brother, innocently.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew  _ my  _ Bella was  _ Aro’s _ mate and  _ not mine. _ ”

“I  _ knew _ no such thing. I knew that she wasn’t your mate, because even though she wasn’t a vampire, you would have felt it if she had jumped off that cliff and died. You would have  _ known _ if she was dead.” Alice explained, a slight edge to her words.

“Excuse me? You ‘ _ knew’ _ ” I air-quoted, “that I was ‘ _ yours’ _ ? I am my own fucking person, Edward, you do not get to dictate who I  _ belong to _ . Especially not after your little escapade to fucking  _ Rio  _ to get away from me! What the hell is wrong with you? Maybe I  _ should’ve  _ let you step into the fucking sunlight and expose yourself,  _ dick. _ ” 

Alice ran a soothing hand up and down my arm and pulled me slightly further away from Edward. 

“Perhaps you should have, better me dead than you being Aro’s _ mate _ .” Edward spat.

“Bella is Aro’s mate whether she let you expose yourself or not,” Alice countered. 

“But neither would have known, Bella would have died of old age before they met. I thought I ensured that when I left, that she wouldn’t encounter any more danger from our kind.”

“Oh yeah,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my tongue, “that’s why Laurent came after me, is it? Because with you gone I wouldn’t be in any more danger?”

Edward soured, his fists and jaw clenched. 

“If the wolves hadn’t been watching me, I  _ would  _ be dead right now, you self-centred bastard.”

Alice lifted a finger and opened her mouth before speaking. “I was just out of the town line. I saw Laurent’s decision to leave Irina and go find you. But, I also saw the wolves’ decision to watch you as well as track him through the area. I knew you would be safe, Bella.” She said, speaking fully to me. 

“And if you weren’t, I was going to kill Laurent, and then turn you myself.”

Edward scoffed. “Of  _ course  _ you were watching her.” He paused, both in sentence and in step. “But how did you see around the wolf pack? They’ve always been a notorious blindspot for you, even since we moved to Forks the very first time.”

“I spent some time with Seth Clearwater and Paul Lahote.” She explained, “I informed them of the situation with Victoria, Laurent, and James. I told them that it was highly likely that either Victoria or Laurent would come back and attempt to kill Bella and to spread their watch accordingly. They listened to me.”

“So you weren’t lying on the plane? You really would turn me? You’ve considered it?”

“That’s what I told you.” Alice said, “But you don’t have to worry about  _ me  _ turning you now.” She smirked.

I felt the blood rush into my cheeks as I slipped my hands into the front pockets of my jeans, that were still damp to the knees. My fingers brushed the edge of something hard, papery.

I lifted my right hand from the pocket, turning over the small piece of cardstock paper.

A business card?

_ Aro Volturi _

_ Volturi Castle, Fortezza Volturi _

  
  


Printed in fine, gold numbers on the reverse side was both an email and a phone number.

* * *

“Aro, might I ask what crossed your mind to allow Jane use of her power on Isabella?” Marcus asked as soon as the Cullen vampires were out of earshot.

“I knew my mate would not be hurt.” Aro answered simply.

Caius stood from his throne. “I’m sorry, brother, did I just now hear you correctly? Your  _ mate _ ?”

“Yes, Caius, catch up, please.”

“You’re telling me that you allowed your  _ mate _ to be hurt at your command?”

Aro rolled his eyes. “She  _ wasn’t  _ hurt. You  _ did  _ just watch her walk out of this room, did you not?” He questioned, lifting a dark eyebrow.

Caius looked quizically at his fellow King, and then to Marcus. 

He couldn’t believe that they had just let Aro’s own mate leave the castle at all, let alone with the pair of Cullen ‘children’. Insolent little Edward, who had only been begging for them to take his life less than a full rotation of the sun ago, and the seer, Alice, who knew far too much for her own good - though, Caius thought, she would be an incredible defensive weapon to the Volturi. To see things before they had happened, _ what a gift _ .

“Brother, I feel the connection. She is safe with the Cullens, more safe with them - for now - than she is with us. She has a sibling bond with Alice, and at the very least, she will keep her safe. Marcus has shown me that the romantic bond my little mate formerly had with Edward is dissolving; he has fallen out of favour with her by seeking us out to end his existence, though the bond was strained even before that.”

“Aro, are you delusional? Fortezza Volturi is the safest place for the mate of a King in the entirety of the globe. What if the Romanian Coven hears word of a King’s mate, undefended? How can you be away from her, not knowing if she is safe until you feel the snap of the bond when she is murdered? How can you not wish to have her by your side even as we speak?”

Aro was in fact, not delusional. Despite setting Jane loose on his very human mate, Aro was well aware of the possibility that Isabella may be hurt or killed while not at his side. There was a dull ache in his chest already, and she had only been out of eyesight for minutes. How he wished she was near to him. He wished to emulate the Earth, revolving around his Sun. 

“Volturi Castle may be the safest place from threats from outside the walls, but, Caius, you forget that, should we lose Corin or Chelsea, much of the Guard would waiver in loyalty. It is far safer for Isabella to be surrounded and protected by the Cullens. Carlisle’s family is loyal by choice, far more naturally loyal than our company - aside from Edward and Rosalie, it seems, though Rosalie would not become an insurgent, for her mate has incredible bonds with the Cullens. But nevertheless, five vampires at the very least will defend my Isabella to the best of their ability - five vampires that fly almost entirely under the radar to unfriendly covens due to their lifestyle choice. Alice can monitor their opposition, should any arise, through her gift, and her mate,  _ the Major _ ,” Caius’ eyes snapped to Aro’s, “is an expert in tactical warfare. Emmett is much like our Felix, stronger than a regular vampire, but has fixed loyalty to Isabella through a sibling bond much like Alice.  _ Il mio compagno  _ will be well protected, brother.”

“The  _ Major  _ is the seer’s mate?” Caius’ crimson eyes sparkled. “And what of her? What did she show you?”

Marcus’ lips quirked a fraction into a knowing smile, finding Caius’ sudden interest in The Major rather humourous. 

“Is there an echo in here? Yes, Caius. The Major. You did, in fact, hear me properly. Your enhanced hearing surely isn’t failing you after three thousand years, is it?” Aro snickered, “Dear Alice showed me their conflict with the woman that fled the German coven from who we procured Heidi. Her name is Victoria, and her gift presents as evasion and self preservation.”

“The fiery redhead that Afton found, correct?” Caius inquired. 

Aro nodded once. “Afton was only able to find her because of his gift. If he had any other variation of psychic invisibility, like Isabella’s mental shield or Renata’s physical shield, we never would have found her in the first place. Victoria must be eliminated. And while I place an immense amount of trust and faith in our friend, Carlisle, and his family, and despite the shifters also working in Isabella’s defence, I believe that we should dispatch Afton to work in tandem with The Major and the seer to ensure my dear mate’s safety.”

“Anything for your mate, brother. She is almost as important to us as she is to you.” Marcus spoke.

Aro looked towards the doors that the trio had just exited from. 

“Alice has prophesied Bella at my side, and I intend to make that prophesy a reality.”

**Author's Note:**

> Prologue finished! 
> 
> Leave a comment with your opinions on this chapter if you'd like to - feedback is constructive, both good and bad :)


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